TobaccoReporter logo

Tag: EU

  • EU to Tighten Cross-Border Tobacco, Alcohol Limits?

    EU to Tighten Cross-Border Tobacco, Alcohol Limits?

    Several EU member states have proposed tightening single-market rules on the personal import of tobacco products, as part of discussions on revising the Tobacco Taxation Directive (TED), according to Euractiv. Denmark, which holds the EU Council presidency, floated the idea in early December, suggesting stricter limits on cross-border tobacco imports under Article 32 of the Excise Duty Directive, alongside more moderate tax increases. The move aims to curb cross-border shopping that undermines high-tax anti-smoking policies in countries such as France.

    Currently, individuals can import up to 800 cigarettes for personal use. A number of countries, including France, Germany, Finland, and Estonia, have expressed openness to lowering this threshold, with some also supporting limits on alternative tobacco products like heated tobacco.

    The European Commission has been cautious, indicating that changes to Article 32 may fall outside the scope of the TED. Some member states have also noted that the rules apply to alcohol as well, prompting calls from countries such as Finland, Estonia, and Germany to extend any revisions to alcoholic beverages.

  • EU Document Leak Raises Questions Over COP11 Push

    EU Document Leak Raises Questions Over COP11 Push

    According to The European Times, industry observers are questioning the EU’s conduct at the WHO’s COP11 meeting after a leaked document showed Brussels pushing for far stricter language on novel nicotine products than member states had approved.

    “A leaked internal document later revealed that EU officials had encouraged the delegation to support language promoting prohibitions or strict limitations on all novel nicotine products,” the article said. “Once the document circulated among delegations, several member states described the situation as a procedural breach and questioned whether the Commission and the Danish EU Council Presidency were attempting to secure outcomes in Geneva that lacked consensus among governments at home.”

    WHO officials and aligned NGOs advocated sweeping restrictions on vapes, heated tobacco, and nicotine pouches, including flavor limits, packaging rules, environmental mandates, and broader liability tools. According to the leaked text, EU officials privately urged support for prohibitions or severe limits on manufacturing, import, sale, and use of all emerging nicotine products—despite such wording having been removed from the EU’s formal mandate during internal negotiations.

    Many of the most restrictive COP11 proposals were ultimately scaled back or made voluntary, with broader measures postponed to COP12 in 2027. However, the controversy has intensified scrutiny over the EU’s role within WHO processes and the transparency of its negotiations on nicotine policy, according to The European Times.

  • Survey: Luxembourgers Favor Strict Tobacco Rules

    Survey: Luxembourgers Favor Strict Tobacco Rules

    A new poll by Ilres shows overwhelming public support in Luxembourg for tougher tobacco controls, with 85% of residents backing a ban on advertising—including 75% of smokers themselves. The survey, published by Fondation Cancer, also found strong backing for removing cigarette vending machines (78%), reducing points of sale (71%), and nearly three-quarters of respondents in favor of raising prices.

    The findings come as the European Commission pushes for harmonized excise duty increases across the EU, a move Luxembourg has resisted. Finance Minister Gilles Roth warned in October that the proposed tax hikes were “excessive” and risked disrupting existing price levels, arguing that aligning duties across member states could create “unequal treatment.” Cigarette sales remain a major revenue stream for Luxembourg, with 5.08 billion sticks sold in 2024, though KPMG estimates 88% were consumed abroad.

  • EU Abstains from COP11 Vote Amid Internal Disagreements

    EU Abstains from COP11 Vote Amid Internal Disagreements

    “The European Union will not participate in a vote on a revised treaty at the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (COP11) in Geneva,” Brussels Signal reported today (November 17), highlighting deep divisions among member states over tobacco policy. Internal EU disagreements pit “progressive” countries that support stricter measures like flavor bans and plain packaging against more cautious states that advocate for harm-reduction tools and consumer choice. Attempts to reach a consensus under the Danish Presidency of the Council of the EU reportedly failed, despite a proposed compromise, the article said.

    The abstention has sparked mixed reactions. Public health advocacy groups expressed concern that a weakened EU position could embolden tobacco industry tactics, while harm-reduction proponents, including the World Vapers Alliance, welcomed the outcome as preserving space for evidence-based policies. Analysts warn that overly broad restrictions could drive consumers back to combustible cigarettes or underground markets, undermining public health gains.

  • War on Tobacco or Assault on National Power?: Editorial

    War on Tobacco or Assault on National Power?: Editorial

    “In Brussels, they talk of ‘regulatory simplification,’ yet in international forums, they negotiate new layers of global bureaucracy, from tobacco to digital health and climate governance,” wrote analyst Javier Villamor in an article for The European Conservative. “But beyond the sanitary or environmental narrative, the plan represents a new attempt by Brussels to concentrate fiscal and regulatory powers at the expense of the Member States.”

    Villamor argues that as the European Union sidles up to the World Health Organization with its upcoming tobacco control conference (COP11), the actual purpose is to transfer regulatory power from national governments to international agencies without democratic oversight, as Brussels plans to automatically incorporate WHO-aligned measures into EU law.

    “What appears to be a technical step is, in reality, the transfer of Europe’s regulatory sovereignty to an international agency with no democratic legitimacy,” Villamor wrote. “Brussels not only intends to sign commitments on behalf of the Member States but also to incorporate them automatically into EU law through the forthcoming revision of the Tobacco Products Directive.

    “In practice, this would mean that decisions taken in Geneva offices could become binding bans in Madrid, Rome, or Warsaw—without parliamentary debate or national impact assessment.”

    As Brussels considers restrictions, bans, and taxes on virtually every product containing tobacco or nicotine, framing it all as a public health and environmental initiative, the plan includes fiscal measures under the Tobacco Excise Directive (TED) and Tobacco Excise Duty on Raw Tobacco (TEDOR), enabling the EU to directly collect up to 15% of national excise revenues and impose duty hikes of up to 900% on certain products. Observers, Villamor says, warn that such moves centralize authority, undermine the principle of subsidiarity, and risk harming over 80,000 European tobacco producers and small retailers, while benefiting third countries like Morocco and China.

    “The so-called ‘anti-tobacco crusade’ becomes a vehicle for recentralizing authority and financing the EU’s bureaucratic machinery under the guise of public health,” Villamor wrote. “The mechanism is well known: Brussels funds these organizations, they in turn demand that EU law be aligned with the WHO, and the Commission presents their demands as a ‘civil society consensus.’ A closed feedback loop of influence, where citizens pay to lose sovereignty.

    “Paradoxically, the countries with the best results in reducing smoking, such as Sweden, which has cut its rate to 5% thanks to regulated alternatives like snus and nicotine pouches, would be penalized for adopting effective national policies outside the WHO’s dogma.”

  • EU Considers Cigarette Filter Ban Ahead of WHO COP11, Sparking Industry Concerns

    EU Considers Cigarette Filter Ban Ahead of WHO COP11, Sparking Industry Concerns

    A proposal to ban cigarette filters is reigniting debate across the European Union, with public health advocates backing the move while several member states and industry players express hesitation. The draft EU position, prepared ahead of the WHO COP11 meeting in Geneva next month, highlights the potential of a filter ban to reduce smoking appeal, however, countries including Germany and Italy have opposed implementing the measure within the bloc.

    According to Eurativ, “a European Commission spokesperson has since clarified that the measure would not apply within the EU. However, despite resistance from some countries, the latest draft of the EU’s position retains a reference to a global filter ban, suggesting the EU executive may want to keep the option for future application in Europe.”

    Filters, the EU says, are a major source of environmental pollution, with the WHO estimating 4.5 trillion cigarette butts discarded annually worldwide. Gijs van Wijk of the Smoke Free Partnership called filters a “deceptive design feature” and urged regulators to consider similar restrictions for e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products.

    Making cigarettes harsher and less attractive theoretically makes sense, says Tadas Lisauskas, the CEO of Greenbutts, a company that focuses on eliminating the ecological impact associated with cigarette filters, but he points to decades of research that shows filters keep significant amounts of particles out of smokers’ lungs.

    “Public health must be grounded in science and practical outcomes—not symbolism,” Lisauskas said. “On closer inspection, a filter ban is both illogical and counterproductive.

    “Unfiltered cigarettes would reintroduce hazards society moved away from generations ago. A policy intended to protect public health should not expose consumers to additional, immediate physical harm.”

    The filter ban proposal comes amid broader regulatory pressure on the tobacco sector, including proposed excise tax hikes and the TEDOR levy, which could raise €11.2 billion annually.

  • Gap Growing Between EU’s Public-Health Ambitions, Economic Concerns

    Gap Growing Between EU’s Public-Health Ambitions, Economic Concerns

    The European Commission’s plan to overhaul the EU’s tobacco taxation directive has met resistance from numerous Member States, revealing deep divisions over how far and how fast the bloc should go in taxing nicotine products. The proposal, first unveiled on July 16 and discussed for the first time at the Ecofin Council in Luxembourg last week, would sharply raise minimum excise duties on cigarettes and extend taxation to new categories such as vaping and heated tobacco.

    Commissioner for Climate and Clean Growth Wopke Hoekstra defended the reform as long overdue. “Europe ranks among the highest in the world for the number of smokers,” he said. “Moreover, there are new products deliberately designed for young people, 15-year-olds, which create a new addiction to nicotine. We cannot allow the industry to reverse the narrative, spreading lies as it has already done with traditional cigarettes.”

    Under the Commission’s plan, the minimum duty on cigarettes would rise from 60% to 63% of the weighted average retail price (WAP) and from €90 to €215 per 1,000 pieces. Rolling tobacco would see its threshold climb from 50% to 62% of WAP and from €60 to €215 per kilo. The reform also introduces EU-wide minimum rates for heated tobacco and e-cigarettes, starting in 2028 at 45% of WAP or €88 per 1,000 pieces and increasing through 2032.

    While most governments support the goal of improving public health, at least 12 Member States voiced objections. Italy, Bulgaria, and Romania warned that higher taxes on traditional cigarettes could fuel illicit trade. “We have to examine the interaction between increased tax thresholds and the trafficking of illegal cigarettes,” said Italy’s economy minister Giancarlo Giorgetti.

    Croatia, Greece, Luxembourg, Malta, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary described the proposed thresholds as too high. Hungary fears for its cigarillo sector, while Luxembourg rejects the Commission’s plan for automatic adjustments based on purchasing power.

    Sweden and Finland objected to taxing snus, with Swedish finance minister Elisabeth Svantesson insisting that “taxes should reflect the degree of harm, not the product type.”

  • Europe Risks Becoming Another Australia, BAT Boss Says

    Europe Risks Becoming Another Australia, BAT Boss Says

    Kingsley Wheaton, BAT’s Chief Commercial Officer, warned that Europe’s planned sharp tax hikes on cigarettes and alternative nicotine products risk fueling illicit trade similar to the crisis that has been created in Australia. Similar to his remarks last week at GTNF 2025 in Brussels, Wheaton told Euractiv that high excise taxes and strict regulations have pushed 80% of Australia’s tobacco market underground, resulting in taxpayer losses of AUD 9 billion ($5.9 billion) since 2019 and flourishing organized crime responsible for extortion, fire bombings, and murder.

    The warning comes as the European Commission pursues a revision of the Excise Tax Directive, proposing a 139% increase in cigarette taxes and steep rises for e-cigarettes, heated tobacco, and nicotine pouches. The EU aims to become smoke-free by 2040, targeting tobacco and nicotine consumption below 5%. While BAT acknowledges that smokeless products are not risk-free, Wheaton argued they are far less harmful than smoking and should remain accessible and affordable even as cigarette prices rise.

    Wheaton urged policymakers to focus on progressively taxing cigarettes while maintaining access to safer nicotine alternatives, alongside responsible packaging, retail licensing, and nicotine ceilings, however, the Commission continues to repeatedly reject any warning that comes from cigarette-producing companies.

  • EU TPD Panel: Coherence or Patchwork

    EU TPD Panel: Coherence or Patchwork

    At the Global Tobacco and Nicotine Forum (GTNF) in Brussels, industry and policy experts debated whether the EU Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) will promote coherence or wlll result in a regulatory patchwork across member states. The session featured Michiel Reerink of Alliance One International, Nathalie Darge of Tobacco Europe, and environmental risk analyst David Zaruk (“The Risk Monger”).

    Reerink noted that the EU’s regulatory approach has often leaned toward prohibition, arguing that “the EU’s solution was to ban the product.” He said the first TPD brought together older directives but created optional provisions that evolved into regulatory barriers. He emphasized that consistent, science-based regulation would benefit all stakeholders.

    Darge highlighted structural challenges within the European Commission’s previous consulants, citing a lack of neutrality and potential conflicts of interest. She outlined the expected timeline for the next revision, TPD3, with an initial report and proposal anticipated before 2029, followed by member state consultations and a final version possibly by 2030. Darge stressed that policymakers want a stronger voice in shaping the outcome.

    Zaruk warned that the EU’s growing use of the “precautionary principle” as a risk-management tool risks stifling innovation and redefining the very scope of tobacco regulation — “the EU is defining nicotine as tobacco now,” he said. He also criticized the inconsistency of political leadership, arguing that motivated commissioners can drive major policy shifts, while others avoid engagement.

    Panelists agreed that while political volatility, tax pressures, and public sentiment make tobacco an easy target for revenue generation, meaningful progress depends on coherent, evidence-based regulation that balances health goals with economic and consumer realities.

    The GTNF is the world’s leading annual conference discussing the future of the tobacco and nicotine industries. It is the global exchange for views and ideas between public health experts, government representatives, the industry, and investors.

  • EU Commissioner Accuses Tobacco Industry of Misleading Policymakers 

    EU Commissioner Accuses Tobacco Industry of Misleading Policymakers 

    EU Climate Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra accused the tobacco industry of recycling old tactics, comparing claims that vapes are less harmful than cigarettes to past efforts promoting “light” cigarettes.

    “They mislead policymakers about the risks of these new products, just as they did with light cigarettes in the past,” Hoekstra wrote on LinkedIn, saying that nicotine in alternative products also damages blood vessels, impairs vascular function, and stimulates tumor growth.

    His comments come as the European Commission prepares its first assessment of the health effects of new tobacco and nicotine products, with a focus on preventing youth uptake. Hoekstra has also pushed for higher taxation, backing the proposed Tobacco Excise Duty Own Resource (TEDOR), which could contribute €11.2 billion annually to the EU budget by taking 15% of member states’ tobacco tax revenues.

    However, the plan faces resistance as 14 countries, including Italy, Greece, and Sweden, have already voiced opposition.